Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is the concept of a “secondary” or “bonus” game that may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, which is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome in the basic game. Generally, bonus games provide a greater expectation of winning than the basic game and may also be accompanied with more attractive or unusual video displays and/or audio. Bonus games may additionally award players with “progressive jackpot” awards that are funded, at least in part, by a percentage of coin-in from the gaming machine or a plurality of participating gaming machines. Because the bonus game concept offers tremendous advantages in player appeal and excitement relative to other known games, and because such games are attractive to both players and operators, there is a continuing need to develop gaming machines with new types of bonus games to satisfy the demands of players and operators.
Many current wagering games include a display generally displaying a broad view of the game with numerous, small game elements (e.g., characters, graphics, or the like) of the game thereon. This type of view may be desirable to allow the player to view the entire gaming environment. For example, all of a plurality of player-selectable elements may be shown simultaneously to a player. One drawback, however, to displaying only a broad view of the game is that the individual game elements must be relatively small for all of the elements to fit on the display. Because of their small size, many game elements of current wagering games lack substantial detail. This lack of detail may cause the game elements to look “generic.” Thus, the player's anticipation and excitement may be limited, thereby decreasing the ability of the wagering game to draw the player into the game. Further, such views of the entire gaming environment are generally static views that, over time, may seem stale to frequent players.
Therefore, there is a need for a wagering game to improve the available views of the elements of the wagering game.